Japanese brave icy bath to pray for end to pandemic in scale-downed annual Shinto ritual | South China Morning Post

A handful of Japanese pilgrims plunged into a bath filled with cold water and large ice blocks at the temperature of 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) to purify their souls and pray for an end of the Covid-19 pandemic. The annual Shinto ritual at Teppou-zu Inari Shrine, now in its 66th year, used to draw nat…

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